All 18.0 - Farewells
The crew of the Gunakadeit returned to Naiza Dawan after their trial. With no small assistance from Bastion's Teleport spell, they traveled to the nearest major city, Engiadina, the capital of the province. The group spent six days attending to their own needs and interests, relaxing, shopping and otherwise refreshing themselves after their ordeal and long boat journey. Nearly everyone spent at least some time in libraries, looking for information about Valparasian ruins, possible echo locations, and information about the world outside of Mirilarin. Bastion in particular was lauded for her magical skills, as the city was rife with academics but rather lacking in magic and wizards, apparently a national trait of Mesecoy. Caitlyn too, who had taught herself a working knowledge of the local language and who had great academic skill, and particularly archaeological knowledge of Valparaiso, found herself the subject of great attention and praise of the local scholarly community. She spent much time with Professor Yianni, who had joined them on their trip to the city, and was introduced to a wide number of influential people. When it came time to leave, the group pooled their knowledge and decided on their next destination: a boat dock on the coast of Ursialla, a country on the continent of Akroum. From there, they would travel inland to several locations that seemed like promising echo locations. Since Bastion could not teleport everyone at once, Cheko, Lucca and Cress traveled to the ship the night before they planned to leave. The next morning, she took Victor, Virgil, Pierce and Cohen; once there, she informed them that she would be staying there. There was a lot of exploring to do in the enchanted ruins in the mines that required a skilled arcanist that the research team didn't have; she didn't mention the promises of wealth and prestige that the town had offered her to stay. She also revealed that Caitlyn would be staying too, opting to remain with the university and researching the All and ways to stop them from there; however, her husband would still be joining them on the ship. The men who received this information took it with varying levels of dismay; Victor, Cohen and Lucca made to return to the city with Bastion as she picked up Ryuji in order to see her before leaving. Pierce gave Victor something to give to Caitlyn when he saw her, and the group left the mine. Once returned, they found Caitlyn standing near Ryuji with their son, looking distant and despondent. Victor spoke first, handing over Pierce's offering: a plain ring with a spinning section in the middle. He explained what Pierce had told him: that it was a communication device that would allow wearers to speak to each other freely. There was only the one, but he was making a second that Ryuji could use when it was finished, allowing them to talk over great distances. Caitlyn accepted it, and told Victor to thank him deeply. After this, Cohen stepped forward and said, though he already knew the answer, that considering that they might never cross paths again, could she remove the collar; she shook her head in denial. Victor pressed just once, to the same answer, after which he dropped the issue and said farewell. Lucca, the entire time, had a curious and powerful look on his face, but said nothing. With that, Ryuji joined them, Bastion teleported again, and Caitlyn was left with Shintaro in the foreign city. With a final farewell from Bastion, who promised to keep in touch and to inform them of everything she discovered, the rest of the group entered the ship, closed the doors, and was off. Category:Advent of the All